PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet was informed today that there might be a need for minor amendments to existing laws to resolve the parallel pathway issue, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
Fahmi, who is also the Unity Government spokesman, said that in today’s Cabinet meeting, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir provided feedback on the matter, with the Attorney General’s Chambers also offering its legal perspective.
“Parallel pathway refers to the issue involving an overlap between the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) and the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).
“The Cabinet was informed that some amendments to existing laws are needed, and this will be brought to the Cabinet meeting, God willing, next week,“ he said in a press conference after the Cabinet meeting here.
He said that details regarding the related act will also be discussed next week.
The parallel pathway issue grabbed public attention when the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) requested Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) to allow the admission of non-Bumiputera medical officers who wish to receive specialised training in cardiothoracic surgery, just as the institution accepts international students.
This followed the MMC’s rejection of the applications of four cardiothoracic surgeons to be listed in the National Specialist Register, as their Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in Cardiothoracic Surgery (FRCS Ed) was not recognised.
UiTM is the only local university offering the parallel pathway programme in collaboration with the National Heart Institute (IJN) in the field of cardiothoracic surgery.
On May 27, Zambry said that the parallel pathway issue would be resolved promptly and a draft solution proposal had been submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers for review.
According to Zambry, discussions with the Ministry of Health were recently held to find a solution involving legal aspects as well as issues related to the recognition of medical programmes offered at universities.
